Sunday, April 20, 2008

Palm Sunday Kitchen Miracles ( Easter bread croissants with jam)

Yesterday I had the intention to tell you all about the Bulgarian Palm Sunday- the unbelievable scent of flowers everywhere you go, the cheerful colors of Spring that you can see everywhere, the new smiles on the people's faces, the awakening of the human spirit after the long winter if you like . I love this holiday! It is amazing what a little sun, couple of flowers and good friends can do. I miss it a lot, because here is a little bit different. There are no parades of people marching on the streets with bouquets and candles, there is no waiting in long lines in front of the church to get a willow branch from the priest, where you don't actually mind the waiting, as long as it is sunny, because you get to meet friends that you haven't met in a long time. Cheerful conversations, laughter, life....But this day is not only Palm Sunday in Bulgaria, it is the day that every person with a name of a flower or tree is celebrating the so called "name day". The tradition is, that everyone can visit you without calling first, and that you have to be prepared for uninvited guests :-).This is a really nice tradition I can talk about for hours, but this is not the thing I want to talk about now. No, I totally changed my mind, because I've discovered the 2 miracles of this Palm Sunday and that is what I am going to talk about- sweet Easter bread croissants and Whole Wheat and Ryе dinner rolls.

I decided to make sweet Easter bread croissants for this Palm Sunday, because it is really close to Easter for us and I had this recipe that a really nice and talented lady shared in one of the Bulgarian forums I visit, that I had in mind to test a long time ago. Many people made this recipe and although I believed them the croissants are unbelievable, people's words don't do them justice! The fluffy croissant just melts in the mouth, but when combined with the jam and nuts, the creamy taste that results from this combination just makes me want to make more. And I will tomorrow, I am not kidding! I made 50 today, and I am going to make as much tomorrow as well!On behalf of my family I thank you, Djemma, thank you very much for sharing this little gem of a recipe! ( here is the original recipe in Bulgarian )

You can add raisins, vanilla and lemon zest(this time because I didn't have fresh lemons I used liquid lemon flavor).I knead the dough in the bread machine, but it can be done by hand as easily.After it has risen once, roll out the dough into rectangles 1/6 inch thick on a lightly buttered surface , cut into triangles, fill with a filling of your choice (I used apricot and cherry jam with crushed walnuts) then shape into crescents. Put them on a baking sheet and allow to rise for 15 minutes.Brush each croissant with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar ( sesame seeds, poppy seeds etc) and bake on 350-375 F for 25 minutes or until golden brown.Enjoy!

And if you want to know why they dissapeared so quickly, look at the little hand on the picture ;-)